Our Story, with some questions!

[Moji-n-Rocco]

I apologize now for the long post!

My chinchilla parent story starts out rough... Let's begin with I LOVE CHINCHILLAS! I have always wanted one and knew someday I would get one!! So over a month ago after some rather crazy events I finally decided to get me one! YAY!! So I bought Charlie, a 6 Month old adorable chinchilla, and was so excited that this year my birthday was going to be great! At this point I had researched for hours on end and knew the does and don'ts of chinchilla ownership. So I prepared my room for this amazing little fella! I bring him home he is shy but he he was happy. However he didn't eat a lot but he liked his water! I would let him make his way on his own time out to play in a chinchilla proofed room! But he didn't really play but rather just hid but I knew it would take time. Then to my surprise one night he suddenly wasn't doing so well the temp was good but he had labored breathing and hadnt eaten in a day or so, so I set some chilled pans in the cage and prayed for the best, but Charlie passed away not even a week after I brought my furry friend home. :''( I was heartbroken and it was right before my birthday, I gave up on owning one and was terribly sad. (I still not sure what exactly happened still but a couple of Guinea Pigs were sick and they were housed right by them so that's all we can figure)Then after a good couple of days I decided I would give it another go, but this time I would be more careful with my purchase. Then last week I found a lady here locally selling a couple of Chins that she could no longer own. So I checked it out and the conditions they were in were NOT ideal she was feeding them wrong had them in a terribly SMALL cage and I knew I HAD to RESCUE THEM!!! So I became a proud Chin MOMMY of TWO! Moji and Rocco ;D They are crazy happy and playful! But I need some thoughts and Questions answered. I'm so fearful now that they are going to pass away that I analyze EVERYTHING they do! What are somethings I could Keep in mind to look for?

They have Fleece pads and a box with wood shavings to go potty in but they poop EVERYWHERE! What are some cleaning ideas and how often do I need to clean them?

Chin-Chiller or No? the room varies from 70-72 F and I have a fan to circulate air around the room. Not directly on the cage but Why cant you blow it directly on it?

I have tons of questions but these are all for now!

THANKS ALL!

 

[Amethyst]

First thing is why did you not take your chin to the vet when it got sick? Putting pans in the cage the cage and praying is NOT as substitute for vet care (or any care really). If a chin goes without eating for more then a day it's digestive tract starts to die off, or more specifically the good bacteria in it does. If they aren't eating you have to force feed to get something in until you get to the vet or take the chin in right away. I know chins are expensive to bring to the vet, but if you can't afford it I don't think you should have chinchillas. Also if you did research you should know to already have a vet lined up in case of an emergency. You say the guinea pigs near by where sick, what were they sick with? or where they too just left to prayer as treatment? If they had an URI those are highly contagious and the guinea pigs should have been isolated from other animals. I'm sorry if I sound harsh but I don't think of chinchillas (or any pet) are disposable and/or replaceable, even if it's cheaper to just replace it.

Ok now to answer your questions... they can only be pee trained, and most don't automatically pee in a box, they can't control their poo (that is just how their digestive tract is made) and should be pooping about once every 30-60 seconds when awake, so yes a lot. With fleece it depends on if they are peeing in a litter pan or not. If they are you can wait about a week between changes, if not the fleece should be changed every few days.

Chin chillers are additional cooling for times like when they play and get a little over warm but the room is ok temp. You still need to make sure the temp and humidity is well with in safe levels for a chin, below 75F and below 50% humidity, the hotter (closer to 75) it is the lower the humidity needs to be and vise versa. Fans do nothing for a chin, unless you are using it to pull the ac cooled air from one area to another. Chins don't have sweat glands so unlike humans a fan is just pushing air around, it's like if you are all bundled up in winter coveralls, hat with face mask, gloves, and boots, how much does a fan help? A fan blowing right at them would cause a draft, which will lead to pneumonia, which is commonly fatal in chins and needs care as soon as it's noticed for any hope of survival (it can kill within hours).

 

[Moji-n-Rocco]

Thanks for the response! As for Charlie I did have a vet already lined up I actually have two however I noticed this really late in the evening, He had been very quite since day one, hardly ran around more or so just moved from hiding spot to hiding spot. So it wasn't until I woke up really late in the evening/morning (roughly 2:30-3am) that I realized he wasn't doing well so I did that in hopes He would make it until 7 when the vet opened. And as for the guinea pigs they were at the Pet Store I got him from is where they had guineas that they later said were sick but did not tell me what they were sick with. I also believe that no pet is just replaceable! I have a cat a fish and now two Chins and I would do anything to keep them alive! They pee mainly in the box but I have noticed a few pee staines here and there.

 

[Amethyst]

Ah, sorry for the harsh response, the way the post was written made it sound like you had him with sick guinea pigs in the room and just hoped for the best. Then a couple days after he died decided to get more chins, that put up some red flags for me. There are people out there that just figure why bring it to the vet when I just get a new one for a fraction of the price (or with some pets free) if this one dies... makes me sick.

My guess would be he caught something from the sick piggies at the pet store too, and you never having a chin before (and therefore having nothing to compare to) just assumed the quietness was normal at first. It can commonly takes chins at least a week to settle in, so that sounds like a valid mistake. I think this is also a good example/cautionary tale of why people need to quarantine new chins from their current ones when they bring a new one home.

Things to watch for is increased thirst, the poop changing, it should be hard and damp/dry not wet or soft, and oval shaped not round, also it should be dark brown/black not another color (their poop tells a lot), also behavioral changes, less active then normal or acting weird (drooling, pawing at the mouth, fur chewing, things like that).

Oh and not all chins want to be pee trained, my two literally take two steps from where ever they happen to be standing and pee (they only pee in the cage though so I'm good with that). Also some chins will use the litter perfect for years and then just decide they don't feel like it anymore. So not using the litter box is not cause for concern like it is with a cat, also with such small bladders accidents are normal.

 

[Moji-n-Rocco]

Thanks for the reply! Again! I will keep all these things in mind!